PRICE:
Frommer's Exceptional

Tetsuya's was named the fifth-best restaurant in the world in Restaurant Magazine's annual list of the world's 50 best eateries in 2007. Rockpool, the only other Australia or New Zealand restaurant on the top 50 list, slipped three places to 33. Topping the top 50 list was El Bulli in Barcelona, followed by The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, to the west of London. Third was Pierre Gagnaire in Paris, followed by French Laundry in Yountville, California. So what makes Tetsuya's so good? On a recent visit I secured a table right next to the ceiling-to-floor windows, for intimate views across a Japanese-inspired courtyard with maples and waterfall. We chose the wine-matching option to go with our 10 courses, in my opinion the best thing to do here (corkage costs A$20 [US$16/UK£8] if you bring your own wine, and the tasting option means you get to try 10 good wines, several made especially to complement Tetsuya's dishes). The matching wine option costs $85 (US$68/UK£34) per head. The service was impeccable, and the food truly inspired. Small delicate morsels appeared: an incredible shot of pea soup with bitter chocolate sorbet was first, followed by a roulette of chopped smoked ocean trout capped with caviar, then a leek and spanner crab custard. Then came the signature dish: a confit of Tasmanian ocean trout with a crust of konbu seaweed, on a bed of daikon radish and fennel. And so it went on: a real culinary journey from the air and sea to the thick dark forests heady with mushrooms, veal and red wine. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We came out with a bill in excess of A$600 (US$480/UK£240)for two, and then there was the tip! Everybody who is anybody wants to come here -- so getting a table is difficult. To have a chance, you need to book when reservations become available, 4 weeks in advance, and reconfirm a few days before.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Australia 2008, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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